Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Lake
by Harta
Summary: Thorin and the Company stumble across a glittering lake. One Dwarf goes in the water. The others follow. Chaos ensues: wrestling in the water, sewing the lake plants, and overall jumping on top of each other. Bilbo tries to avoid getting dunked and Thorin attempts to be majestic and dry, yet they both don't exactly succeed... and Gandalf just stands back and laughs.


**A/N: ** _Reuploaded from my AO3 account: Harta_

Because the idea of Thorin getting pulled into a lake and soaking wet with all of his buddies is just awesome. And I love writing about all of the other Dwarves too.

Gah, I love all of the characters. Every single one of them.

* * *

**Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Lake**

* * *

"A lake!"

"Fantastic!"

"It's huge!"

"I do wonder how deep it is."

_Splash!_

To the surprise of everyone, Bombur was in the water, just like that. Was he pushed in there by a friend as a joke? Did he trip and fall? Was the Sun in the air too scorching hot that he needed to take a dip? Or was some sorcery of any lurking enemies the cause?

Whatever the reason was, the effect was astonishing. Soon the Dwarves were shoving each other in or jumping into the lake themselves. There were cannonballs, splashing, tackling, and lots of laughter and smiles. They didn't even think of taking off their armor.

Gandalf strode forwards, watching the spectacle in front of him. "Dwarves," he muttered, smiling and shaking his head, his gray beard wagging.

On both his sides were Bilbo and Thorin. Bilbo's eyes were large, and he was chuckling.

"Reminds me of myself when I was a little boy," said the Hobbit. "My father would always shake his head and think me of being too 'Took-ish'. My mother would join me though. We'd get soaking wet."

Thorin smiled. "Not many differences from Dwarves and Hobbits then," he said.

Bilbo laughed. "Perhaps."

It was a sunny day, with barely any cloud in the sky. All around them stretched field and fields of green grass. For the meantime, they weren't being hunted down by Orcs or Goblins. It was still days of their journey before they could even reach Mirkwood, not to mention the Lonely Mountain itself. Why not spend a couple of moments to take a little break?

Thorin furrowed his brow. "Bombur appears to be drowning."

"The waters of the lake itself are not too deep," said Gandalf. "But the weight of your nephews might be what is weighing Bombur down."

It was true. Kili and Fili were tackling Bombur in the water, jumping on him like little kittens hopping on a bigger cat.

"…Is Ori teaching Dori and Nori how to _sew_ using the lake's plants?" Bilbo asked, squinting his eyes. Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

"Ah, I'm afraid not," said Thorin, and he smiled before shouting at Kili and Fili to get off poor Bombur this instant. His two nephews obliged, grumbling, then went off to find new victims.

Balin, who was sitting on a rock near them, was smiling from ear to ear. "It's nice to see the Company at days like this," he said. "And it'd wash the blood from their faces."

Thorin nodded. "Indeed."

"Bifur, Bofur, watch out!" shrieked Bilbo.

Too late. Kili and Fili were on them in the blink of an eye. They wrestled in the water, bumping into Gloin and Oin, who were already in the middle of their own little Dwarf match. The two groups collided, and a war began.

Gandalf raised his bushy eyebrows. "Fascinating." Then he blew a circle of smoke from his pipe.

Bilbo laughed. Bombur had calmed himself down, and Oin halted in the middle of his lessons to watch the Dwarves having a friendly brawl in the water.

Bilbo sat on solid ground on the edge of the lake, though his legs were in the water, all the way up to his thighs. It was refreshing. And watching his friends having such a good time made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Bilbo!"

"Come join us!"

"Eh—Me?" The burglar pointed to himself, answering the call of the Dwarves, though he couldn't quite see exactly _who_ were the people that called him.

And while he pondered this over, his legs were pulled out in front of him, and he fell into the lake, his head under water immediately. His eyes were wide open, and he could only make out the blurred figures of Dwarves in front of him. Then he stood up, finding the water to be very shallow and only up to his chest, and unable to figure out who had dragged him in.

The Dwarves were patting each other on the back, cheering loudly and laughing.

"Ah, Mr. Baggins! Lovely of you to join us!"

"Fine day for a dip, eh?"

"Yer curly hair's all wet now! Stuck to your face, it is!"

"Come on, Bilbo, take your pick. Who do you want to wrestle with first?"

Bilbo took a step back. "I…Er…Um." He turned around to see his dry friends. Gandalf was chuckling. Balin was smiling and shaking his head. And Thorin…Thorin was looking so majestic, standing up fair and tall against the sun while his friends were soaking wet.

"Well, Master Baggins?" said the King under the Mountain. His eyes were bright, as if smiling. "Who do you choose?"

What Bilbo did next would probably get him into the biggest trouble that he'd blame well enough on his Took side. It surprised everyone, even surprising the Hobbit himself.

In one swift movement, Bilbo's arm shot out of the water. The burglar grasped Thorin's hand, the Dwarf beginning to open his mouth to speak, and with a tug that took all of his strength, Bilbo pulled Thorin Oakenshield into the lake.

Bilbo tried to stumble back in time, but he found that he couldn't. Thorin fell on top of Bilbo, their wet bodies crashing together. They both dropped in the water like rocks.

Then Bilbo broke through the surface and gasped for breath. The wind had been knocked out of him. His Hobbit heart was beating hard against his chest, and wondered whether he did the right thing or if he did a total mistake. It was true that he and Thorin had finally become friends after the incident with the Pale Orc but…but wasn't dunking the Dwarf King a little _too much?_

The Dwarves were silent. Gandalf was silent. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Bilbo and the ripples in the water next to the Hobbit. Thorin had yet to surface.

Then a strong hand grasped Bilbo on the top of the head, and for the third time, the Hobbit went under.

In the seemingly deep waters, the burglar opened his eyes. Thorin was in front of him, their faces inches apart, eyes locked.

And the Dwarf King was smiling.

He was_ smiling._

Bilbo was surprised out of his wits, and then he gasped for breath, bubbles escaping his mouth. He swore that he could hear Thorin chuckling, and then they both kicked their legs and broke to the surface of the lake.

Bilbo was gulping in air, and Thorin waited for him to finish and gain composure.

"Well, Master Baggins, since you have chosen me as your opponent for the first match," Thorin said with a smile, "then I will be glad to see what you are capable of."

Then the Dwarves exploded in cheers and claps and the slapping of each other on the backs, and the laughter of Gandalf and Balin seemed to make it above all the noise.

And that's how the day went. With the Dwarves—including none other than Thorin Oakenshield and eventually Balin (who had decided to join the Company)— and one very special Bilbo Baggins in the waters of a glittering lake, laughing and shouting and trying to see who can keep their heads in the air the longest, with the wizard Gandalf watching as he puffed out smokes from his pipe with a chuckle.

And later Bilbo would write about this event: to explain this day, to explain how wholly happy he was, to explain every single detail of each of his friends and how the water glittered in their beards. Pages after pages were dedicated to that day— as Bilbo would write in his big red book.

* * *

**_end_**

* * *

**A/N: **I wrote this a long time before the second Hobbit film came out. I was sooo hoping for some friendship scenes between the characters, but unfortunately, there wasn't much :'( Lots of hope for the extended edition!

Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf, why must you all be so adorable? *sobs*

Receiving comments is like being given a very yummy cookie. It puts the biggest smile on my face :)


End file.
